Frozen food improvements



Patented Apr. 18, 1950 FBozuN Boon IMPRoVEM TS A N ses, W tQr wnrMass,

No. Drowi 5. Application March 7, 1946,

-SerialNo. 652,796

soldiers. (01. 991.192)

dds-for making improved frozen products such: as stews and particularly cooked fOOdsShllfiS. As".

ancexamp'leof the difficulties existing in the industry at the present time it is pointed out that it would not be advisable'rto can together picca-r lilli, veal and beans because while many people.

enjoy the particular flavors of apiccalilli with baked beans, those particular flavors would be lost when the beans were packed and then, canned with thepiccalilli as the product would age to beone flavor. This is in vcontradiction to the'fact that many combinations of food and many high class mixtures such as stews and dhowders are very tasty if served and eaten shortly after they have been cooked and pro."

pared.

Changes in the flavor of mixtures of foods take place much more slowly when mixtures are. rapidly cooled and quick frozen after they are made. Eventuallyhoweventhe individuaitastesi mix and the consumer misses the characteristic flavors of the parts that make up theiwhole. An example ofthe present invention is in the mak ing of beef stew which is cooked, frozen and sold as aflcoojked frozen product. It is customary and usual procedure for the different vegetables;

meat, and other materiaisin the stew tobe pro pared and cooked together, after which the whole is cooled more or less, packaged, quick frozen, and held frozen until some methodof defrosting is employed .by rhea-individual; who-{prepares the stew for the table. A variation the above pro du ay take nto :acoount'difierences in cooking time required for the various constituents by adding the particular vegetable or constituent which cooks in the shortest time near the end of the cookin .I fin hat th ab v procedures can yield very tasty and delicious products, .butalso find that the .lonser' s w is held even in the frozen state the more chance there isbf the taste of all parts of the stew be coming the same and, therefore, much ofttheenjoyment of eating is lost.

This invention therefore relies on the fact that changes occur while the stew is being held frozen ploying quick freezing. The frozen units are stored individuallyor mixed together betwe a preparation and the putting together of the. mate food products. in the proportions req d; for the manufactured product. As an example turnips, carrots and potatoes, etc, as co stituents. of beef stew would be prepared sp able pieces cooked and frozen sepa a ely hfi fi f" which a specific number of ounces of. th carrots or eq al Weight. of the froz n potato piec s. a d specific weight orths frozen tur ip ele torate! w uld b mix d in th proporti ns des ed for the finished product. These frozen pieces we to b for ex mpl in the packa e hat t contain the frozen stew in the, frozen c and then the cooked meat with the lioui seasoning, etc, cooled to its d sir d point. no 1 b added to the frozen units, after w .1- 1e whole would be frozen and st red in .he freon state.

Vegetables, meat and mixtures of different ons tu n s usually ive up part of their fla or and take on flavors of other foods. d rin Home S ora e. I make variations in my methods oi mixin andseleo materi ls th ta-re to h irozen or frozen and mixed to ether in the rroz ns ate ahead of time with the ultima e flavor 1Ll predeterminated in a. lar e measur It is desirable that on su h roducts under o certain amount of mixing of flavors a d the tempe at at which the sauc and o h r 6911* stituents ar p ured ov r the froze un t t kes care of this by melti g more o l s of he out: side of the individua units in b in in the t rn: pcra ure of th add d material to he fre zin po H ldin at lowered temp rat res forc riods also i used to control 11 n; to flavor I mixin of fla ors can be contr lled and is. by temperature f c ns ituents in ca e the principal agent in producin the ultimate tasty product. According to my procedure the size or; the individual units and the control of .temperas tures makes it possible for the distinct flavor of, for example, carrots to be present in the center 0f the individual piece at the time the product 1S consumed.

Another example of my invention is to make frozen fruit mixtures and frozen fruit and -veg.ev table mixtures by a. procedure whereby each of the individual fruits or vegetables are frozen as individual units of either whole fruits or vegetables or cut fruits and/or vegetables. The individual pieces are then coated by sugar solution, or other solutions, as they will be if frozen by the liquid contact process described in my patent application 482,611 now Patent No. 2,482,202. These pieces, are then packed in containers and the interspaces filled with liquid and juice that is cold yet above its freezing point following which the whole are quick frozen together. During freezer storage there will be frozen partitions consisting of frozen solution between the frozen fruit or vegetable pieces. The packing is to be so carried out and the temperatures of all held low enough during frozen storage so that there is no migration of flavors from one unit to another that is detrimental to the eating qualities of the product. This product can be, for example, colored fruits and white fruits together. It can also be a mixture of vegetables, a mixture of fruits, as well as mixtures of fruits and vegetables indicated above.

Yet another example of this invention is the freezing of individual units or pieces of foodstuff, then coating the individual units with ice. The new step is to depend on the coating of ice over the individual piece of food and the two purposes served operate together or singly; namely: (1) The latent heat of melting of the layer of ice cools the liquid put in to fill the interstices so as to prevent too great defrosting of individual units, and (2) the coating of ice is kept as a wall to separate one kind of unit of foodstuff from another and makes the action of the liquid filling the interstices vary from nothing during short periods of time of frozen storage to slow conditioning during longer periods of storage.

Instead of water which freezes on the frozen constituents to further protect them this invention includes liquids that are principally of constituents that are principally other than water as, for example, butter, beef fat, chicken fat, etc., which 0001 and harden to give a surface that has protective characteristics from substances in water solution.

Another example in the carrying out of this invention is the handling of materials to be used in preparing cooked frozen beef stew. These may include beef, peas, carrots, celery, potatoes, onions, and turnips. The peas are prepared, cooked and frozen as individual pieces which happen to be whole units in this case, while the individual units of carrots, potatoes and turnips frozen are parts of individual vegetables. The carrots would be washed, scraped, cooked, diced and frozen. The handling of the turnips and potatoes would be generally similar to the carrots but often it is advantageous to cut the vegetables some before cooking. The other prepared materials maybe cooked together with water or extracts obtained in cooking the other vegetables. The liquid stock and the materials therein would then be cooled and placed in the containers in which the stew is to be frozen. The other prepared and frozen materials are then added and the freezing of the whole is then completed without any considerable defrosting of the same.

What I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. The process of making a cooked frozen product from several food constituents comprising separately preparing and cooking the constituents in usual sized pieces and liquids, separately quick freezing one or more of the cooked prepared constituents and then further protecting the retention of flavors and tastes of the frozen pieces previous to combining with the other constituents for quick freezing by coating said frozen constituents with a coating of ice.

2. The process of claim 1 when frozen constituents are covered with an'. edible solid that is prin ipally other than water in its content.

3. The method of preparing frozen cooked 'products containing a number of different ingredients with preservation of distinctive flavors of individual ingredients, which comprises cooking and freezing different ingredients as individual units separately, placing the frozen units together with liquid in a container, and freezing the contents of such container.

4. The method of preparing a frozen cooked stew containing vegetables, meat and sauce, which comprises separately cooking and freezing the different vegetable constituents of the stew, separately cooking meat and preparing a liquid sauce therefor, placing the frozen vegetable units, cooked meat and liquid sauce together in a container, and quick freezing the mingled mass of ingredients.

5. The method of preparing a frozen fruit mixture, which comprises separately freezing pieces of different fruits, placing the frozen fruit pieces in a container with cold liquid, and quick freezing the whole mass of pieces and liquid.

-6. The method of preparing a frozen food product containing a plurality of different ingredients, which comprises separately freezing individual units of such different foodstuffs, coating the frozen units with ice, placing the frozen units in a container, pouring into the container around the ice coated units a liquid of which the temperature and heat absorbing ca' pacity are insufllcient to cause defrosting of the frozen units, and extracting heat from the mixture to quick freeze the liquid.

7. A process of making frozen products from a.

mixture of foodstuffs comprising separately freezing individual water containing constituents of the mixture, assembling the separately frozen constituents, adding to such assemblage cooledliquid at a temperature at least as low as about 50 degrees Fahrenheit, and quick freezing theassembled product, whereby the flavors of the several constituents are retained more effectively in the individual constituents than occurs when all are combined before freezing.

8. The process set forth in claim 7, together: with the further step of holding the frozen prod uct in cold storage at temperatures lower thanplus 10 degrees Fahrenheit.

HARRY A. N OYES.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,896,529 Tressler Feb. 7, 1933 2,248,289 Thal July 8, 1941 

1. THE PROCESS OF MAKING A COOKED FROZEN PRODUCT FROM SEVERAL FOOD CONSTITUENTS COMPRISING SEPARATELY PREPARING AND COOKING THE CONSTITUENTS IN USUAL SIZED PIECES AND LIQUIDS, SEPARATELY QUICK FREEZING ONE OR MORE OF THE COOKED PREPARED CONSTITUENTS AND THEN FURTHER PROTECTING THE RETENTION OF FLAVORS AND TASTES OF THE FROZEN PIECES PREVIOUS TO COMBINING WITH THE OTHER CONSTITUENTS FOR QUICK FREEZING BY COATING SAID FROZEN CONSTITUENTS WITH A COATING OF ICE. 